700 Years of Dante

28 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Firenze, Italia, Italian language

Tags

Accademia della Crusca, Dante, Dante Alighieri, Firenze, Italian history, Italian language, Italian literature, La Divina Commedia

2021 is the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri. Dante is known as the ‘Father of the Italian Language’. His most famous work La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) is considered a masterpiece, the first and still the greatest work of literature in the Italian language and a precursor to modern fiction. In the late medieval period, Latin was the only language for education, literature and religion. La Divina Commediawas the first major work written in a language of ordinary speech or vulgare, the way people actually spoke at home. Dante combined Tuscan and other dialects, including Sicilian and Latin, establishing the modern Italian language. Even though La Divina Commedia was written in 1308-20 the language is understandable today.

La Divina Commedia is a 3 part epic poem written in the first person, emphasizing the importance of salvation and Divine love in the redemption of humanity. It explores Dante’s imaginary trip to Paradiso (Heaven), passing through L’Inferno (Hell) and Purgatorio (Purgatory). It is also a critique of famous figures of his time. The work is filled with historical, mythological and biblical references and discusses politics, religion, science, ethics and love. La Divina Commedia does not contain jokes nor is it funny. The reason it is termed a commedia is because it is not a tragedia (trajedy) and it has a happy ending.

Dante was born in Firenze in 1265. He studied philosophy, poetry, and was also an apothecary-a medieval pharmacist. This is not as strange as it sounds, since nobles in public office had to belong to one of the city guilds and books were sold by apothecaries at the time. He married Gemma Donati in 1285 and they had 3 children. Dante’s family was involved in the Guelfi/Ghibellini (Guelph/Ghibelline) power struggles. The Guelfi supported the Papacy and the Ghibellini supported the Holy Roman Emperor -even though there was not one at the time.

The Guelfi split into 2 groups because the Pope kept interfering with internal matters in Firenze. Guelfi Bianchi (White Guelphs) did not want the Pope involved in city politics and Guelfi Neri (Black Guelphs) supported complete Pope authority. Dante’s family were Guelfi Bianchi. In 1302, while Dante was in Roma as an ambassador, Firenze was occupied by the Guelfi Neri. The Guelfi Bianchi, including Dante and his sons, were exiled. A few years later, other Guelfi Bianchi in exile were pardoned- but not Dante. He was quite the badass in exile and burnt his bridges by writing many nasty letters. Dante was offered amnesty in 1315, but it came with conditions and a heavy fine, which he was not able to pay.

Dante wrote La Divina Commedia while in exile and ruthlessly sends everyone responsible for his banishment to eternal damnation in L’Inferno. He put a lot of effort and imagination into coming up with the horrible details! If Dante were alive today, he would probably be writing political satire.

Dante never did return to his beloved Firenze. He stayed in Roma, then moved to Ravenna, where he completed Paradiso in 1320 and died of malaria Sept 14th 1321. He is buried in the church of San Francesco. Jacopo Alighieri (1289-1348), also a poet, regained possession of his father’s confiscated property in 1343.

Firenze regretted Dante’s exile, and repeatedly asked Ravenna for his remains. A tomb was even built in 1829 in Santa Croce but all requests were refused and the tomb is empty. In June 2008, Firenze finally passed a motion rescinding his sentence and exile. As my Mamma says ‘meglio tardi che mai’-Better late than never!

700^th anniversary celebrations are happening throughout 2021, although most of them will depend on ever changing COVID 19 restrictions. There is a website for all of the 700 Dante Firenze festivities. A few examples:

Museo di Casa di Dante has a new multimedia display and a virtual tour.

L’Accademia della Crusca, Italia’s fun ‘language police’ was established in Firenze in the 16^th Century to safeguard the study of the Italian language. Their website includes ‘Parola di Dante fresca di giornata’ a Dante word of the day for each day of 2021!

La Divina Commedia is as relevant today as it was in 1320. I will leave you with an encouraging message of hope from the final phrase of l’Inferno…

‘e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle’– ‘hence we came forth to see the stars again’

Ciao, Cristina

Statue of Dante in Piazza Santa Croce, Firenze

Viaggio con Isabella

20 Wednesday May 2020

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Amici e Famiglia, Firenze, Italia, Photography, Travel

≈ 32 Comments

Tags

Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi, Italy travel tips, Lucca, Milano, Monteriggioni, Oltrarno, Torre di Giotto, Vernazza, Viaggi in pultrona

One year ago I was just returning from Italia with my nipotina Isabella. Since we are not able to travel in real life, viaggiamo in pultrona, let’s armchair travel and revisit our trip.

A bit of backstory…when Isabella was about 8 years old, she saw a photo of me on the Ponte Vecchio and asked ‘Zia, where is this?’. I replied ‘Firenze’ and she asked if we could go there together one day. I was thrilled at the opportunity to share my love of Firenze with her, so of course I said ‘Si! We can go when you graduate’. We were delayed a few years due to scheduling issues, but last year in between Isabella finishing her university classes and starting a summer job, we managed to squeeze in a 2 week trip!

We flew to Firenze, where we rented a studio apartment in the Oltrarno for a week. It was in a renovated stone tower a short walk from the Ponte Vecchio and down a narrow alley from Piazza della Passera.

Chef Peppe Zullo, our amico from Orsara, was in town our first day. We met him at the Mercato Centrale where he and his son Michele had recently taken over a restaurant upstairs called Tosca.

We had prebooked only 1 museum-the Uffizi of course, for the Saturday so that Gaetano, our cugino in med school could join us. New Caravaggio rooms have opened since my last visit! I noticed many portraits of Anna Maria Luisa de Medici on display. We have her to thank for all of this! Isabella loved the Uffizi, not just for the artwork, also the building itself, so Gaetano suggested she visit Palazzo Pitti another day.

I am ‘vertically challenged’, which may be why I like to climb to the top of things, especially if there is a view involved. We climbed almost everything in Firenze, starting with a walk to Piazzale Michelangelo via Porta San Niccolò for views of the city, then continuing up to San Miniato al Monte. We climbed the dizzying narrow stairs to the top of Brunelleschi’s Duomo to see the views and the Torre Giotto. Another day we climbed the Torre Giotto and saw the Duomo! These climbs were vital to working off gelato! For more photos taken from above see Viste di Firenze.

We also enjoyed the view, modern art and caffè from la terrazza degli Uffizi. This is the title of one of my monotypes, so I had to throw that in there! The Aperol Spritz from the roof bar of La Rinascente in Piazza della Repubblica was the best I have had. With her new headband and puffy sleeves, Isabella looked like a Renaissance principessa enjoying a spritz!

We were on constant lookout for street art by Blub-even Gaetano when he was with us. The results of our Blub hunt are in the post L’arte sa Nuotare.

Isabella loves caffè. She started ordering caffè lungo because both times she ordered un americano, they repeated ‘American coffee’ and tried to serve her drip coffee! Mannaggia! What has the world come to! Caffe a Firenze We had caffè at a different place every morning, including Caffè degli Artigiani in Piazza della Passera, Bar d’ Angolo in Porta Romana, one of my old favourites I Dolci di Patrizio Cosi, and one place way too close to Ponte Vecchio. They were all wonderful! Isabella kept track of the cost of a cornetto and 2 caffè lunghi…..as expected, she found the price decreased and the quality increased the farther out we went! Valuable life lessons!

We joined 5 others on a lovely daytrip from San Gimignano to Siena with Piero of Bike Florence and Tuscany. The weather was ominous, either sprinkling or threatening to rain all day. Monteriggioni was a stop for wine tasting and we cycled parts of the Via Francigena. In Siena we had a few hours to explore the city and have Panforte.

The weather was not very warm for May. I think this is the first time I have ever packed a small umbrella, but glad I did! We had to dress in layers, or ‘a la cipolla’ as they say in italiano. Some evenings in Firenze, it seemed like we were wearing ALL of the clothes in our valigia! Despite this, we walked everywhere.

Here is our map –YES- a map-of where we walked. Maps of the city centre are great for getting oriented. It is much easier than trying to look at a GPS on a tiny phone screen. We did not have time to take the bus to Fiesole or get to L’Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David or attend Mass at Santa Croce. Isabella will definitely need to get back to Firenze. While shopping, she did receive many compliments every day on her Italiano, even bartering down the price of a cute leather jacket!Lucca was our next stop, 1.5 hours away by train. Lucca is one of my favourite places in Italia! We stayed at a small B&B near Torre Guinigi. The owners found out we lived in Vancouver and told us about their nipote in Vancouver who is Isabella’s age. I started to say that Vancouver was a big city…… when Isabella said ‘Uh….Zia….I actually do know him…. Che mondo piccolo! After that, every time they saw Isabella, with no subtlety at all, they went on about what a nice boy he was!

Lucca is known for its intact medieval walls. We rented biciclette to ride the path on top of the walls. The forecast was for good weather. We had done 4 laps of the tree lined 4 km route, when unexpectedly a torrential downpour started. It rained so hard we could barely see.

We tried to get off the path, but visibility was so bad we could not tell which gate and ‘onramp’ we had taken to get up to the wall. This was important because we had to return the bikes where we rented them. Isabella wore her new jacket, and rather than get it ruined in the rain, she had folded it up inside out in a plastic bag in the cestino -the basket- leaving her in short sleeves. Brrrr!

By the time we got to Piazza Anfiteatro to warm up and wait for the rain to stop, we looked like wet rats. The restaurants are outdoor, so they had large heaters, and even blankets. A friend was coming from Viareggio for aperitivo later, but she had to cancel due to the weather. Even in the rain, Lucca is spectacular. It is also a great place to shop! I never spend enough time in Lucca.

Our next stop was La Spezia via Pisa and on to Vernazza, our home base in the Cinque Terre. I wrote about our time there in 2 posts- Le Cinque Terre and Exploring le Cinque Terre. The second post is specifically about our adventures. The weather was beautiful, which is good, as there are no indoor activities there! Hiking all day with a 19 year old is hard work, so luckily there was wine tasting in the evening!The morning we left Vernazza was raining almost as much as on the walls of Lucca! Isabella had been to Roma several times, but not to Milano, so we booked to fly home from there. We met our cugina Federica, who we stayed with, and went to the Navigli area to have dinner with more cugini. Our visit was too short. We spent the next day walking and window shopping around the Cento Storico and had a few ‘streetside reunions’ and phone calls with more cugini and a friend. I have been to Milano many times but have yet to see L’Ultima Cenacola, Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Even 2 weeks in advance, I was not able to book admission. Another reason to return!We hope you have enjoyed this piccolo viaggio virtuale with us! Hopefully we can travel again soon. Ciao, Cristina & Isabella

The Last Medici

18 Tuesday Feb 2020

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art, Art history, Firenze

≈ 15 Comments

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Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Firenze, Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti

Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, the last descendant of the Medici dynasty died on February 18, 1743. Her family of bankers had ruled Firenze on and off for over 300 years, and amassed countless art treasures. Fortunately for us, Anna Maria Luisa was a woman ahead of her time. Knowing her family was on the verge of extinction, she made sure her family’s legacy was protected.

The middle child of Cosimo III de’ Medici and Marguerite d’Orleans, she was born in 1667 and had 2 brothers, Ferdinando and Gian Gastone. Anna Maria Luisa’s parents could not stand each other. Her mother returned to France when Anna Maria Luisa was 8 years old and never returned.

In 1691, at the age of 24, Anna Maria Luisa was married by proxy to the widowed Elector Palatine, a prince of Bavaria. Her marriage, although arranged, was happy and she lived a comfortable life as ‘Electress Palatine’ in Dusseldorf, where she was a patroness of the arts. Anna Maria Luisa and her husband did not have any children. It was thought until recently that he had given her syphilis.

Ferdinando and Gian Gastone were both in disastrous marriages and neither lived with his wife. Cosimo was worried about them both being without an heir. He even had his Cardinal brother released from religious life to marry, but 2 years later, he died without children. When Ferdinando died in 1713, Cosimo changed Tuscan law to allow a female heir, passing Medici rule to Anna Maria Luisa after Gian Gastone. He lobbied the European leaders, but they refused to accept this.

When Anna Maria Luisa’s husband died in 1716, she returned to Firenze, moving into a wing of the Palazzo Pitti. Cosimo III died in 1723, leaving Gian Gastone to be a terrible Grand Duke of Tuscany until his death in 1737. Despite the fact that Cosimo wanted the House of Este from Modena take over, it was decided the debt-ridden Lorraine (Lorena) family of the Austrian Hapsburg dynasty would take over the government of Tuscany. Anna Maria Luisa had no say in the decision.

On Gian Gastone’s death, Anna Maria Luisa inherited all of the Medici personal property. Knowing the Medici line ended with her, she was determined that her family’s possessions would not be sold off piece by piece to pay off Austrian war debts. Anna Maria Luisa had to find a solution quickly, before the vultures swooped in!

On October 31, 1737, she signed a legal contract, the Patto di Famiglia (Family Pact) leaving all of the personal property of the Medici, including the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti and Medici Villas to the city upon her death. It stipulated that none of the collection could be sold or removed from Firenze. More specifically, it stated that the Medici collections:

‘esse rimanessero per ornamento dello Stato, per utilità del Pubblico e per attirare la curiosità dei Forestieri’ / were to be left as ornaments of the State, for use of the public and to attract the curiosity of foreigners.

If she only knew! She was unknowingly providing for her city’s future economy.

Anna Maria Luisa spent the rest of her life doing charitable work, cataloguing the inventory of her family collection and overseeing the building of the Cappella dei Principi in San Lorenzo where she was later buried. The Patto di Famiglia became active on her death February 18, 1743. In 2012 her bones were exhumed due to concerns of damage from the 1966 flood. (Note…I am not sure why this took 46 years??). She died of a breast tumour and there was no evidence of syphilis.

Originally designed by Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I in 1560, the Uffizi, former administrative offices (uffici means offices) of the Medici and the Archivo dello Stato was opened to the public 16 years after Anna Maria Luisa’s death. The Uffizi Gallery now has 16 million visitors every year.

In Firenze Anna Maria Luisa is known as ‘La Principessa Saggia’, the wise Princess. She is also known and recognized for her big hair. The city of Firenze honours her each year on Oct 31st to celebrate the Patto di Famiglia with free admission to the Uffizi and on February 18^ththe anniversary of her death with free admission to civic museums. There is often an actress playing her at the Palazzo Pitti. The art loving world is forever indebted to Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici.

Photos:

Portrait of Elettrice Palatina Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici by Jan Van Douven, Dusseldorf, Wikimedia

Photos of actress playing Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici at Palazzo Pitti from Filistrucchi, the manufacturers of the big-ass parrucca (wig) she is wearing!

Photo of actress playing Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici signing the Patto di Famiglia ilreporter website

Sculpture of Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici by Ivo Barbaresi 1945. Donated to Palazzo Pitti by Fiorenza Bartolozzi 2011.

Ciao, Cristina

L’arte sa nuotare

08 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art, Firenze, Italia, Photography

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

Blub, Contemporary art Firenze, Firenze street art, L'arte sa nuotare, Street art

L’arte sa Nuotare -art knows how to swim- is a project by Italian street artist Blub (Bloob). Anyone who has been to Firenze in the last few years has likely seen Blub’s work plastered onto the city’s sportelli di gas e di luce- the metallic doors of gas and electrical panels. I was recently in Firenze with my nipotina Isabella. We were constantly on the lookout for ‘Blubi’ (BLOO•bee). It was like a scavenger hunt! We even spotted a few in Lucca, but none in Siena. No one has met mysterious street artist Blub. All we know about Blub is that he…..or she….. is from Firenze and is a talented artist with a fun, quirky sense of humour.Blub’s series “L’arte sa Nuotare’ takes famous works of art and gives them a new look, immersing them underwater, complete with blue background, snorkel masks and bollicine-bubbles!

More recent works receiving the Blub treatment are contemporary icons such as the kiss from La Dolce Vita, Freddie Mercury and Amy Winehouse. Blubi have a magnetic attraction to anyone passing by. The works are not graffiti painted directly onto the precious, crumbling renaissance walls. Blub paints 1 original acrylic on canvas or metal, then makes posters in sizes to fit the sportelli and pastes them up with 100% plant based glue. Sportelli also provide ready made frames.

How did this series start? According to a February 2019 interview (in Italiano) with Firenze Urban Lifestyle Magazine, Blub claims that for fun, the first ‘masked’ triad were Da Vinci works-La Gioconda (aka Mona Lisa), Dama con l’ermellino, and a self portrait of Leonardo. One night, with the help and encouragement of friends, they were pasted up on sportelli in the San Niccolò area.

It was originally a way of remembering the flood of the Arno in 1966 and the saving of Firenze’s priceless artwork from the muddy water that ravaged the city. That night ‘l’arte non affoga’ (art does not drown) became ‘l’arte sa nuotare’.

Aside from the reference to the 1966 flood, the series brings together the past and contemporary world, pays tribute to the personality of Firenze and is dedicated to those who find solutions in a sea of difficulty. The expression ‘sink or swim’ comes to mind.

Water generates life and is a symbol of rebirth and purification. Time stands still underwater, placing the immersed works that have left their mark and survive today in another dimension. With this series of work, Blub is trying to incite curiosity rather than controversy.

Blub hunting will now also be possible in Napoli! Blub has 6 new works on display at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli until August 31! Frescoes from Pompeii underwater! I will definitely try to see this exhibit! Update! I did make it to Napoli. Read about it in Blub a Napoli. I hope you enjoyed this Blub photo exhibit! Have you had the pleasure of finding Blubi? If you like to view artwork al fresco and un po’ bagnato, happy Blub hunting! More Blub images are available on instagram #lartesanuotare.

Ciao, Cristina

*La Dolce Vita photo taken by Shannon Milar in Lucca. All other photos taken by me in Firenze, except the Amedeo Modigliani which was taken in Lucca.

La Trinità di Masaccio

09 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art history, Firenze, Italia

≈ 16 Comments

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Brunelleschi, Firenze, Giorgio Vasari, La Santa Trinità, Linear perspective, Masaccio, Memento mori, Santa Maria Novella, Tommaso Cassai, Vanishing point

La Trinità di Masaccio is one of the most important paintings in art history…..and it came very close to being destroyed! The fresco is on the wall of the left aisle in Santa Maria Novella, opposite the entrance through the cloisters. La Santa Trinità is the Holy Trinity; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It was commissioned by unknown donors, probably from the Lenzi or Berti families, since they had tombs close by.

La Trinità, completed in 1427, is the earliest known example of one point linear perspective. It is painted on a flat wall, but gives the illusion of space, appearing to be a 3 dimensional chapel. This is the start of early 15^th Century Humanism, when Italian painting moved from flat, idealized art to a more natural, realistic style.

To create a sense of depth and space, Masaccio uses linear perspective with a vanishing point, chiaroscuro, foreshortening and directional light. This was all new at the time. The figures are life-size, emotional, and so realistic they look sculpted. Jesus is especially realistic looking, with his body affected by gravity. God is portrayed as a standing man holding up the cross, with foreshortened feet firmly planted on the ground. He is usually portrayed by a hand or as an old man floating in the clouds. Mary looks mournfully at the viewer, pointing up to Jesus as if to say ‘this is your answer to eternal salvation’. The praying witnesses are likely the unidentified donors, placed outside the ‘chapel’.

Inspired by Brunelleschi’s newly rediscovered classical principles, Masaccio creates a convincing architectural space, especially the barrel vaulted coffered ceiling. The composition is magnificent, with many triangles further emphasizing the theme of ‘trinity’. The vanishing point is right at eye-level, guiding the viewer’s eye upwards and emphasizing the perspective of the ceiling. Masaccio apparently inserted a nail at the vanishing point- the ledge below the cross. He tied strings to this nail which left imprints in the wet plaster. He used these lines as a guide for the perspective.

My quick sketches of the vanishing point, perspective lines and triangular composition. The colour image is my entry ticket from 2004!

Masaccio was praised in Giorgio Vasari’s 1550 bestseller ‘The Lives of the Artists’.** Masaccio was born Tommaso Cassai. ‘Maso’ is short for Tommaso and with the superlative ‘accio’, it meant ‘big messy Maso’. According to Vasari, this was ‘because of his complete lack of concern’ for worldly affairs or even how he dressed himself’. He was only concerned with his art. Masaccio’s most famous work is the Cappella Brancacci in Santa Maria del Carmine. In 1428, at the age of 27, he died suddenly of unknown causes. Many, including Vasari believed he was poisoned by a jealous rival. When informed of Masaccio’s death, Brunelleschi commented ‘Noi abbiamo fatto una gran perdita’-we have had a great loss. Masaccio did not live long enough to be well known in his lifetime, but his work inspired Fra Angelico, Fra Filippo Lippi, and Filippino Lippi. The Cappella Brancacci was completed by Filippino after Masaccio’s death.

Back to La Trinità…In 1568, Vasari was commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici to ‘modernize’ Santa Maria Novella. Cosimo ordered all of the frescos to be plastered over and replaced with new ones! Aaaaaahhhh! Well-lucky for us, Vasari admired Masaccio and could not bear to destroy La Trinità. He secretly built a false wall in front, effectively preserving the work for almost 300 years. On the new wall Vasari installed an altar and painted the Madonna del Rosario.

In 1860 Santa Maria Novella was undergoing renovations and workers, noticing an irregularity in the wall, discovered La Trinità. Unfortunately, it was detached from the wall, transferred to canvas and moved to the another wall inside. Detaching a fresco is done with the ‘strappo’ technique, which is complicated and fascinating. Italocanadese fresco artist Liana Tumino demonstrates the technique in this video.

The bottom part of the fresco was either not noticed or ignored. It is a cadaver/ skeleton on an open tomb. Painted to look carved in the stone is written ‘Io fu già quel che voi siete, e quel chi son voi ancor sarete’ –I was what you are and you will be what I am. This is a Memento Mori, a reminder of our eventual death, like poor Yorick’s skull. The message can be interpreted as both ‘Do not take life for granted, live life to its fullest’ and ‘Prepare now for eternal salvation’. The second interpretation was more likely in the 15^th century.

Both parts of the fresco were reunited in the original location in 1952. Death below, and the hope of salvation above. It suffered some damage from being transferred to canvas and then back to the wall. I am not the biggest fan of Vasari’s work, but in this case…yeah Giorgio! We can almost forgive him for the gaudy tomb he designed for Michelangelo… Almost.

Ciao, Cristina

**The full title is ‘The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects’, in italiano ‘Le Vite de’ più Eccellenti Pittori, Scultori e Architettore’ often simply called ‘Le Vite’, first published 1550, updated 1568. Read more about Vasari in this post.

La Grande Cacata

17 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Art history, Firenze, Italia

≈ 30 Comments

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Big Clay #4, Big Turd, Contemporary art Firenze, Marino Marini, Piazza della Signoria, Ratto delle Sabine

As I entered Piazza della Signoria in November, I was surprised to see it occupied by a massive excremental aluminum sculpture. Big Clay #4 is the actual title of the 12 meter high work by Swiss artist Urs Fischer.

The sculpture is actually an enlargement of pieces of clay that the artist modeled with his hands. He took 5 small pieces of clay and squished them around in his hands, then piled them up. Then it was ‘supersized’ to 12 meters high. The artist’s fingerprints and palm creases that were impressed onto the surface of the clay were also reproduced. An interesting idea…. too bad it came out looking like poo.

The installation of this sculpture is not a successful pairing of contemporary and Renaissance/Classic art. If I sound like a harsh art critic, let me say that I am not one of those people who just dislikes contemporary art. In fact, one of my favourite musei in Firenze is the Museo Marino Marini, housed in the deconsecrated ancient church of San Pancrazio. Marini’s 20th Century sculptures are elegant and classic and his melding of the historical and the contemporary is extremely successful.

In my determined quest to find a positive angle on this work, I looked at the photo below and wondered if the artist was trying to (unsuccessfully) mimic the spiraling vortex of Giambologna’s Ratto delle Sabine. This is not the case, since I found out the sculpture was not made for this site. It was previously displayed outside of the Seagram Building in Manhattan, where it was known as the ‘Big Turd’.

The work is supposed to be thought provoking. The only thought that came to me was ‘Now I know what it would it look like if a brontosaurus took a big dump in the middle of Piazza della Signoria!’ The sculpture is up until January 21st, so you only have 4 more days to see it here. My title may sound a bit harsh, but many other colourful, scatologically oriented comments were heard in the piazza and around Firenze. I don’t think many Fiorentini will be sad to see it go!

Ciao, Cristina

Autunno in Italia

30 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Firenze, Italia, Orsara di Puglia, Photography, Roma, Travel tips

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

Autumn in Italy, Casa Berti, Catalyst Art Retreat, Falò e Teste del Purgatorio, Firenze, Gugliano, Italy travel tips, Lucca, Orsara di Puglia, Piazzale Michelangelo, Roma, Tutti i Santi Festa

Returning from my short trip to Italia, as usual I was back to work the next morning. This did not help with the cambiamento di fuso orario. I have so many posts to write, but now they will have to wait until after Christmas. Until then, here is a quick summary with some highlights from my viaggietto. It was a bit of a blur….at 17 days, I think this was my shortest ever trip to Italia!

I had not been to Italia in autunno before. The fall weather was mostly clear and sunny, with a few days of serious rain. I envisioned myself having every piazza practically to myself….was I ever mistaken! My first few days were in Roma the last weekend of October. The Pantheon was packed with more people than I have ever seen in July! I could barely make it through the crowd to throw my coin into the Fontana di Trevi! I found out that some European countries have their school midterm break around this time. In Italia November 1st, All Saints’ Day, is a holiday and many Italians take ‘il ponte al primo novembre’, an extra-long weekend. Even so, the guard at the Pantheon said ‘Qui non c’è bassa stagione’-there is no low season here. My 2 partial weekends in Firenze were similar. Smaller places, especially the seaside are quiet at this time of year, but the cities always have a lot of visitors, especially on the weekend. Despite my utter shock at the hoardes of tour groups I was not expecting, Roma was glorious as usual. One day I want to spend a whole month in Roma.

Franco joined me for the first 9 days-this was only confirmed a week before leaving! He had not been to Roma in a very long time, so we decided to visit the Colosseo and Foro Romano. I took way too many photos of this. I was obsessed with the way the sunlight struck this green door on the Tempio di Romolo in the Foro Romano. The rest of the day involved a lot of walking. It was centered around a visit to Poggi to buy Fabriano Rosaspina paper for my art retreat, and meeting a friend in Monti. We ended up doing everything on my Un Giorno a Roma itinerary and a few extras.

Monti

Spending just 4 days in Orsara di Puglia was a mad dash. This was not enough time to visit family and friends, so I greeted a lot of them in the street. I heard the same phrase from anyone who was not expecting me ‘Ma sei fuori stagione!’. I guess I was out of season, but technically so were they! It was hard to recognize people bundled up in their puffy piumini. November 1 is a holiday, and in Orsara also the festa Fucacoste e Cocce Priatorje. In Italiano this would be Falò e Teste del Purgatorio (bonfires and heads from purgatory). Sometimes we simply call it ‘Tutti Santi’. I wrote about the festa in this post, and now that I have been there myself, I will add photos or write a new post. There were zucche and bonfires everywhere. My balcony was decorated with zucche. I took so many photos I am still going through them, but here are a few.

Il fuoco e le zucche di Antonella e Domenico

The festa was absolutely amazing and also a moving, sprirtual experience-for me and 20,000 others. The weather was clear and crisp, but it was very cold at night. My little casa has no heat, so I borrowed an electric space heater. Brrrrr.

I encountered a lot of olives on this trip. It seemed every road near Orsara was full of parked cars and people with crates and olive nets. I was not used to seeing the trees full of ripe olives! I enjoyed spending a day at my Nonno’s olive grove. One evening we walked past the frantoio, the olive mill, which is always closed the rest of the year. The divine smell of pressed olives lured me in. I photo-documented the entire olive oil extraction process for a future post. Then it was arrivederci Orsara until July. Unfortunately, I missed my family’s olive harvest by one day, but I was able to pick olives in Gugliano.

Next was Firenze for 2 half days. I had not been for several years and it felt good to be back. A spectacular view was the reward for a long morning walk along and across the Arno to Piazzale Michelangelo. A torrential downpour started just as we arrived, so the return trip was very wet. I had to blow dry myself, then got back out in the rain to catch the train to Lucca. We arrived in Lucca just as thousands of attendees were leaving the Lucca Comics and Games Convention. For security reasons, the front of the stazione was closed off. My ride was waiting out front, so by the time we got there, I looked like I had been through the spin cycle. The imposing medieval walls of Lucca were barely visible through the rain and the mist. Next came the bumpy half hour ride to Casa Berti near Gugliano for the Catalyst Art Retreat.

Casa Berti

Luckily a fire was waiting. Franco was in charge of roasting castagne, then he caught the last train back to Firenze to fly home in the am. The retreat was wonderful and the location stunning. My fellow artists were an inspiration.

My corner of the studio at Casa Berti, looking out over olive trees

Artist Mary Cinque working on a woodcut in the studio

The retreat ended with an exhibit at Villa Coloreda near Pietrasanta

I also found time to visit Lucca, pick olives and cachi, make limoncello cake with freshly pressed olive oil and finally try Bistecca alla Fiorentina. Lots of material for future posts.

#cooldudesroma

So much for a ‘quick’ summary! I’ll end with a few notes about travelling to Italia in autunno:

-It may be ‘low season’ for airfares, but unless your destination is a small town or a seaside area, do not expect to be alone! This is especially true on weekends. In the cities, midweek hotel prices are lower, but they go up on weekends.

-Dancing around an almost empty Piazza Navona is possible……before 8am!

-The days are shorter. It gets dark at 16:30 to be exact. Take this into account when making plans for the day.

-The weather can be variable. Even if the days are sunny, nights are cold. Dress ‘a la cipolla’, in layers like an onion, and be prepared for rain too!

Il Ponte Vecchio 12 Novembre

Buon Viaggio, Cristina

San Gimignano

15 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Firenze, Italia, Photography, Travel

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Dante Alighieri, Firenze, Italian history, Italy travel tips, San Gimignano, Siena, Torre Grossa, Toscana, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Vernaccia di San Gimignano

San Gimignano’s skyline looks like a Medieval Metropolis, complete with early grattacieli (grat•tah•chee•EH•lee = skyscrapers). It was known as San Gimignano delle belle Torri -San Gimignano of the beautiful towers. The site was an Etruscan settlement, then a castello called Silvia with a walled village built around it. Silvia was renamed San Gimignano in 450 after the Bishop of Modena, who spared it from Attila the Hun’s troops.

San Gimignano became an independent town in 1199. It was prosperous, being a stopping point on La Via Francigena, the medieval pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Roma, via France. San Gimignano also traded in local zafferano (zaf•fer•RAN•noh = saffron) and wine from the white Vernaccia grape. The earliest mention of Vernaccia di San Gimignano is in the archives of 1276! In 1966, 690 years later, it was the first Italian vino bianco to receive DOC recognition.

The 13 and 14^th Centuries saw San Gimignano caught in the Guelph/Ghibelline conflicts. Read about this in Dante’s post. Wealthy San Gimignanesi built tower houses as symbols of power and wealth, as well as for protection. The height of these torri kept increasing, up to 70m high, to keep up with the neighbors. There were originally 72 torri and 14 still stand today.

Waves of plague and famine hit San Gimignano in the mid 1300’s. The ‘black death’ claimed almost half the population, and San Gimignano was now under the rule of Firenze. Fiorentino control prevented any urban development that happened in other towns. As a result, San Gimignano was preserved in a medieval ‘time warp’, retaining its original atmosphere and appearance. Little changed until the 19^th century when it became a tourism destination. Today the population is 7800 and it does have 1 traffic light! To protect San Gimignano from the effects of mass tourism, strict rules prevent modification to the appearance or intended use of buildings.

Bancomat Medievale/Medieval Bank Machine!

In 1990, the Historic Center of San Gimignano became a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding examples of medieval architecture and original urban layout.

The Cattedrale know as La Collegiata, has Masterpieces of 14^th and 15^th Century art. Inside the front façade is the Fresco of Last Judgement, Heaven and Hell by Taddeo di Bartolo (1393). The Cappella di Santa Fina with frescoes by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1475) was featured in the 1990 Franco Zeffirelli film ‘Tea with Mussolini’.

In the Palazzo Comunale is the Sala di Dante where Dante Alighieri spoke as an ambassador for the Guelphs in May 1300. The Pinacoteca has treasures by Filippino Lippi, among others. Climb the 218 steps of the adjacent 54m Torre Grossa for views of San Gimignano and the Val d’Elsa. Admission is €6.

Piazza della Cisterna is triangular with a well on an octagonal pedestal in the center, surrounded by medieval buildings. It is named for the underground cistern built in 1287 which was the main source of water for the San Gimignanesi. Piazza della Cisterna is the meeting point of the Via Francigena and the road from Pisa to Siena, so it was a happening place in medieval times.

Piazza della Cisterna, seen from Torre Grossa

San Gimignano is an easy daytrip on the bus from Firenze, Siena or Poggibonsi. There is no direct train. The train route is to change trains at Empoli to Poggibonsi and then bus from there. It’s also nice to be there in the evening or overnight when all of the daytrippers have left.

Like Alberobello, no matter how many hordes of tourists it is overrun with, San Gimignano is incantevole (een•can•teh•VOH•leh = enchanting) and definitely worth a visit. I need to go back to do ‘research’, since I have a drawer full of unfinished sketches, monotypes and etchings!

Buon Viaggio, Cristina

Viste di Firenze

29 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Firenze, Italia, Photography, Travel

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Firenze, Florence, Piazzale Michelangelo, Ponte Vecchio, San Miniato al Monte, Santa Croce, Santa Maria del Fiore, Torre di Giotto

When I travel I seem to be attracted to the view from the tallest thing I can find. Maybe it’s because I’m ‘vertically challenged’? It does lead to some spectacular views. Here is a collection of my favourite scatti (shots) of viste(views) of Firenze .

La Terrazza degli Uffizi

Il Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore from la Torre di Giotto (Giotto’s Tower)

La Torre di Giotto vista dal Duomo

‘Santa Maria sotto restauro’

Vista dalla finestra degli Uffizi/View of the Ponte Vecchio from a window in the Uffizi Gallery

Vista di Santa Croce dalla Torre di Giotto

Firenze vista dal cimitero San Miniato al Monte/Firenze seen from the cemetery, San Miniato al Monte

Vista da Piazzale Michelangelo

Ciao, Cristina

Dante Alighieri

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Firenze, Italia, Italian language

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Dante, Dante Alighieri, Firenze, Italian history, Italian language, Italian literature, La Divina Commedia

Statue of Dante in Piazza Santa Croce, Firenze

Auguri Dante! 2015 is the 750th anniversary of the birth of Dante. His actual birth date is unknown, but he does provide clues in ‘Paradiso’ that he was born under the sign of Gemini. In 1265, Gemini was mid May to mid June, a bit earlier than it is now.

Dante is known as the ‘Father of the Italian Language’. His most famous work La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) is considered a masterpiece, the first and also the greatest work of literature in the Italian language. In the late medieval period, Latin was the only language for education, literature and religion. La Divina Commedia was the first major work written in a language of ordinary speech, the way people actually spoke at home. Dante combined Tuscan and other dialects and some Latin, establishing the modern Italian language. Even though La Divina Commedia was written in 1308-20 the language is understandable today.

La Divina Commedia is a long poem in 3 parts, emphasizing the importance of salvation and Divine love. It outlines Dante’s imaginary trip to Paradiso (Heaven), passing through L’Inferno (Hell) and Purgatorio (Purgatory) to get there. It is also a critique of famous figures of his time. The work is filled with historical references and discusses politics, religion, ethics and love. La Divina Commedia has no jokes and is not funny. The reason it is called a commedia is because it is not a tragedia (trajedy) and it has a happy ending.

Dante was born in Firenze (Florence). He studied philosophy, poetry, and was also a pharmacist because nobles in public office had to belong to one of the city’s guilds. This isn’t as strange as it sounds because books were sold by pharmacies at the time. Dante’s family was involved in the Guelfi/Ghibellini (Guelph/Ghibelline) conflicts. The Guelfi supported the Papacy and the Ghibellini supported the Holy Roman Emperor -although there wasn’t actually one at the time. The Guelfi split into 2 groups because the Pope at the time kept interfering with internal matters in Firenze. The Guelfi Bianchi (White Guelphs) did not want the Pope involved in city politics and the Guelfi Neri (Black Guelphs) supported complete Pope authority. Dante’s family were Guelfi Bianchi. In 1302, Firenze was occupied by the Guelfi Neri and the Guelfi Bianchi, including Dante, were exiled. The other Guelfi Bianchi in exile were pardoned a few years later, but not Dante. He was kind of a badass in exile and burnt his bridges by writing many nasty letters, so he stayed in Roma. Dante was offered amnesty in 1315, but there were strings attached and a heavy fine which he couldn’t pay. He wrote La Divina Commedia while in exile and managed to write all of his opponents to eternal damnation, imaginatively making up all sorts of horrible existances for them in l’Inferno. He obviously put a lot of effort into coming up with all of the horrible details! If Dante were alive today I think he would be writing political satire in Paris.

Dante never returned to his beloved Firenze. He moved to Ravenna, where he completed Paradiso and died in exile in 1321. He is buried in the the church of San Francesco. Firenze regretted what had happened and repeatedly asked for Dante’s remains. A tomb was built in 1829 in Santa Croce but the requests were refused. In June 2008, Firenze passed a motion rescinding his sentence and exile. Meglio tardi che mai/Better late than never!

Piazza Santa Croce with statue of Dante on the left.

Un po' di pepe

~ …… (oon∙poh∙dee∙PEH∙peh) Cristina writes about interesting stuff /Cristina scrive di cose interessanti

Category Archives: Firenze

700 Years of Dante

Viaggio con Isabella

The Last Medici

L’arte sa nuotare

La Trinità di Masaccio

La Grande Cacata

Autunno in Italia

San Gimignano

Viste di Firenze

Dante Alighieri

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